Page 58 of Wrath

“Let’s not talk about that.” Aaron quickly tries to hide how worried that makes him by diverting my attention to something else. “What's this gonna be for?” He lifts up one of my sketches and examines it closer.

“A period drama that's going into production next year, I’ve never worked on one before and I was really hoping to get the contract.”

“Was?” He frowns.

“Come on, Aaron, we have to be realistic. Mark wasn’t lying when he said he has connections, and he’s already started his campaign to blacken my name.”

“Mark’s an asshole.” He places my sketch back down and moves over to the bed, dropping his towel so he can slide into his jeans. I don’t even pretend not to admire every bare, naked inch of him, and when he catches me staring he shakes his head and smirks.

“Like what ya seein’?” He laughs to himself.

“I like it very much.” The warmth of sheer happiness spreads from my tummy all over, until he takes the holster that contains his gun from the nightstand and clips it onto his belt. It’s a stark reminder that here I am, back in the world I vowed I’d never come close to again.

“What are your plans for the day?” I’m unsure if I want to know, especially now that things have changed between us. There's a lot for me and Aaron to figure out, one of those things is how much he’s going to tell me about club business. Raze shares everything with Peyton, and although I know it’s going tomake me worry, I think I’d like our relationship to be the same. I hate the idea of Aaron keeping things from me.

“Well, first, I was gonna tear my girl away from her makeshift desk and take her to the clubhouse for breakfast.” He comes up behind me and rests his forearms on my shoulders. “Then, I have a very intensive trainin’ session at the gym. Because workin’ from a dressin’ table in a motel room is not where you should be creatin’ all your genius designs.” He looks at me through the mirror in front of us and drops his head so he can kiss my cheek.

“Here’s just fine, I think it’s best that I’m close to Anita. I’m worried she’ll forget where she is and panic. I’m going to call in on her a few times today.”

“That's a nice idea, Eden, but I don’t want ya gettin’ too caught up in all that crap, you have to think about yourself a little too.” Taking my hand he drags me up onto my feet and spins me round so he can wrap his arms around my waist.

“Y’know, once this Cliff thing is over and it’s safe to leave the compound, you're movin’ straight into my houseboat,” he tells me, pressing his forehead into mine.

“Don’t you think that's moving a little fast, you haven’t even taken me out on a date yet?” I point out.

“It ain’t fast enough, I spent a long time tryin’ to get over ya. Nothin’ worked, now I gotcha, I’m not wastin’ a fuckin’ second.” He kisses me and I quickly pull away before he gets me all consumed and unable to think straight.

“Aaron, I want us to do things right, and I like being here at the club. Let’s not run before we can walk, I’m going through some major changes in my life and I need to keep to a steady pace,” I try explaining and hating how he suddenly looks so disappointed.

“Okay, I get it. But you are comin’ for breakfast, no arguments on that. It’s time for me to show the whole club that you're mine now.”

I make no argument with that at all and reach back to the dressing table and grab my purse.

The clubhouse is packed when we step inside, and everyone starts staring when they notice we’re holding hands.

“Why’s it so busy?” I ask him under my breath, as I smile awkwardly at all the faces that are still looking at us.

“I don’t know.” He looks as confused as I am but still strides confidently toward the bar, dragging me along with him.

“Mornin’.” My brother looks down at the hands we still have linked together, and I try not to think about the fact he’ll have a good guess about what happened between us last night.

“D’y’all know somethin’ I don’t?” Aaron glances around the barroom and frowns.

“I take it ya didn’t have time to check ya phone this mornin’?” My brother raises his eyebrows.

“No, we were–”

“Save it.” Raze cuts him off and closes his eyes. “I called everyone in for a meetin’, somethin’ came to my attention late last night and we got some shit to discuss. Now that you're here, we can get started.” He slides two fingers into the corners of his mouth and whistles to get everyone's attention.

“Church!” he calls out to them all, before leading them through to the room where the big long table is.

“I guess my breakfast will have to wait.” Aaron lifts up my chin with the crook of his finger and kisses me like he did last night. “You go ahead and eat without me.” He leaves me a little unstable on my feet as he follows my brother and the others into the meeting room. I watch him all the way inside, still mesmerized by how my life has changed in the past few weeks. I can feel eyes burning into the back of my skull and when Ieventually turn around, I get hit with Peyton, Alicia, and Polly’s curious eyes.

“What?” I laugh innocently as I join them at their table.

“I assume it finally happened?” Peyton can barely contain her excitement.

“Maybe.” I shrug, lifting one of the muffins from the plate in the center of the table and picking some crumbs from the top of it.

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